Markus was sex­u­al­ly abused sev­er­al times during his child­hood. Today, the 55-year-old is con­stant­ly on the road with his camper van and his dog “Picas­so” and is long­ing for an … read more

All over Europe, refugees are being housed in almost aban­doned vil­lages; this is cheap and is intend­ed to coun­ter­act the rural exodus. But how to feel home in a place that others want to leave? TERRA INCOGNITA is part of anthro­pol­o­gist Shirley van der Maarel’s artis­tic research project in the remote Valle di Comino. We meet var­i­ous inhab­i­tants, chil­dren and adults, from Asia and Africa, and also the locals of Valle di Comino, who alto­geth­er, with their multi-facetted back­grounds, gen­er­ate a new life in this half-empty place. TERRA INCOGNITA is more than a doc­u­men­tary, it´s a glimpse into an absurd reality.

Direc­tor, script, cin­e­matog­ra­phy: Shirley van der Maarel
Sound design: Olivi­er Terpstra
Con­tact: hello@shirleyvandermaarel.com
Research project: www.land-unknown.eu

In 2016, Russ­ian Pres­i­dent Vladimir Putin cre­at­ed the nation­al guards, whose legal task is to ensure public order, the fight against ter­ror­ism and extrem­ism. In fact, this organ­i­sa­tion is per­son­al­ly … read more

Ivan Komen­dan­tov is only 16 years old, but he is a ded­i­cat­ed com­mu­nist and sec­re­tary of ide­ol­o­gy at the com­mu­nist youth organ­i­sa­tion Kom­so­mol in Moscow. He wants to become an … read more

Like many African metrop­o­lis­es, the Ethiopi­an cap­i­tal Addis Ababa is grow­ing rapid­ly. The Oromo farm­ers in the sur­round­ing area call it Fin­finnee, and a part of the Great Rift Valley … read more